Sheet-feeding device.



H. W. MORGAN.

SHEET FEEDING DEVICE.

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H. W. MORGAN.

SHEET FEEDING DEVICE.

APPLIcATloN 111.1111 111111.15. 1911.

1,1 1 9,857. Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

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SHEET PEEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15,1911.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

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SHEET PBBDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION ULEB 11116.15, 1911.

1,1 1 9,857. Patented Dec. s, 1914 5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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SHEET FBEDING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.15, 1911.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

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`II1.1\TlR.Y W. MORGAN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.`

SIIEET-FEEDING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

`Patented Dec. 8,1914.`

Application filed August 15, `1911. Serial No. 644,208.

To all whom it may concern Be it knownthat I, HENRY W. MORGAN, ofRochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, havelinventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Slieet- FeedingiDevices; and I dohereby declaie the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, and to the reference-numerals markedthereon.

My present `invention relates to sheet handling` devices and has for 1tsobject to provide an improved mechanism for feeding sheets or carryingthem one at a time from one point to another, one of the ob]ects beingto provide for the handling of sheets having no considerable thicknessrequiring that they be dragged, rather than pushed, along their' courseof travel.

A further `object of the invention is to make arrangements offeringgreater convenience tothe operator in starting the s lieets on their'wayand to provide for the delivery of the sheets at a farther point. i

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvementsand .combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, the novel features bei ing pointed `out in the claims at theend of the specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the central or printingsection of a printing press provided with a sheet feeding deviceconstructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment o1 myin-` vention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the left hand or supply endof the same press; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the right hand ordelivery end; Fig. 4 is a top plan View of the left hand or feeding end;Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the right hand orldelivery end; Fig. 6 is avertical detail section, much enlarged, of the stationary actuatingmechanism for opening the jawsof the grippers at the delivery end of themachine, taken substantially on the line (3-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is afragmentary top plan view of the )aw operating mechanism at one end ofthe gripper; Fig. 8 is an enlaiged detail vertical section takensubstantially on the line 8-8 of Fig. 4; Fig. 9 is a section takensubstan-` tially on the `line 9-9 of Fig. 6; Fig. 1U is a section takensubstantially on the line 10-10 of Fig. 4; Fig. l1 is a section taken .1substantially Iron the line 11-11 of FigvS,

and Fig. l2`is a section taken substantially on the `line 12v-12 of Fig.8.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate thesame parts.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use in connection withprinting presses and the particular machine of the present embodimenthas been designed for the purpose of printing upon the fiber board, ofwhich boxes are made, the material being printed in the sheet before`being' folded into a box. This `fiber board is relatively heavy as arule, but not of suflicient thickness to be shoved through theprintingcouple by a pusher operating behind it,:as in ordinary boardprinting machines. preferableto draw it through and it is along thisprinciple that the present device operates. i

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1k indicates the main frameof the Inachine andQ the printing or form cylinders. The latter aredriven by the following chain of power transmitting parts, namely:pulley 3, gear 4, gears 5 having the integral beveled gears 6, beveledgear 7 shaft 8, beveled gear 9, beveled gear 10` and shaft 11, but thispart of the mechanism requires no detailed description.` The cylindersoperate over a printing bed 1Q., best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, and thesheets are fed from a supply table 13 at oneiend of this bed beneath thecylinders and out over the delivery rolls 13a at the opposite end.Because of the extreme size of the machine as a whole in proportion toits details was thought advisable toillustrate it in sections, as shown.

As the sheets leave the supply table 13 their forward edges are insertedin one of a plurality of grippers indicated as a whole by 14 in thegeneral views and in the machine of the present embodiment of the invention there are three of these grippers that extend transverselyacross the bed 12 and are guided at the sides thereof, as will be laterexplained. They are mounted, iii the present instance, at each end on apair of flexible belt conveyers 15 that travel over pulleys 16 on idleshafts 17 at the two ends of the machine, but before proceeding With themanner of driving them the gripper-s will be rst described in detail,reference being had more particularly to Figs. 6 to 12. Each gripperconsists of two spaced parallel bars 18 and 19 connected attlieir endsand at intervals by blocks 20, the lower, bar con It is,\therefore,

stituting the lower stationary jaw of thel gripper. rlhe upper andmovable jaw com prises, in the present instance, theshaft 21 journaledin the blocks 2O and carryingV a plurality of spaced fingers 22, asclearly shown in Figs. d, 7 and 10, that coperate with the stationaryjaws in one position ofV the shaft, as shown in full lines in Fig. 10,but are rotated to an open position by the movement of the shaft,rasshown in dotted lines in the same figure. At the ends of the shaft (oneend being a duplicate of the other) are secured upwardly projecting arms23 preferably carrying friction rollers 2st that pass from one side tothe other of the aXis of the shaft as the jaws are opened and closedagainst the tension of leaf springs 25 secured in each case at 26 to anextension 27 of the end block 2O so that as the movable jaw is rotatedto either opened or closed position it is retained there by the spring,and when in closed position lthe jaws are caused to come together with aresilient pressure. Extending downwardly from the shaft 21 at each endis another pair of xed arms 28 and 29 by themovement of which themovable jaw is rotated to either open or closed position against thetension of the spring, in a manner hereinafter set forth. The grippersare guided, as before mentioned, by projecting members 30 (Fig. 8) thatcooperate with guides 31 on the frame at the sides of the bed 12.

ln order to give the operator time to insert a sheet from the table 13into the gripper it is desirable that the latter be halted for aninterval of time, adjacent to the table with its jaws open; that thejaws be closed down upon the sheet; Vthat the gripper then be continuedon beneath the cylinders and, finally, that the jaws be opened torelease the sheet at a point adjacent to the dclivery mechanismembodying the rolls 13a, and in order to accomplish theseresultsautomatically, the following mechanism is provided: At each side of thebed is an endless chain or carrier 32 traveling in a channel 33 having araised supporting rib 34 for the rollers of the chain. Each of thesechains passes over sprockets 35 at opposite ends of the bed of themachine, the sprockets being carried at one end by an idle shaft 36 andat the other by shaft 37 carrying a bevel gear 38 with which meshes abevel gear 39 on a shaft l0 that has a bevel gear al meshing with thebevel gear e2, integral with a gear 43 on the frame 1 that is driven, 1nthe present instance, by the gear 5 of the train that drives theprinting cylinders so that the chain 32 is continuously driven passingadjacent to the operating mechanism of the movable jaws of the grippersand beneath the guiding extensions 30 thereof. At intervals on eachchain or carrier, are arranged laterally projecting pins or actuators 44which are so arranged as to engage the arms 28 on the shaft of themovable aw of each gripperv when the latter is open and to close thesame before disengagement, while traveling in rear of each actuator 4:4:is a projecting Aflange or clutch member 45 secured to one of the linksand so arranged as 4T that is so positioned on a yoke shaped bracket L17as to engage the other operating arm 29 on the shaft 21 of the movableof each gripper and operate the latter to open position, releasing thesheet that may be held between its jaws. Y' y ln the region of thesupply table 13 the guides 31 for the grippers are restricted againstthe passage of the guiding extensions 30 on the latter by means ofyielding plates -lS having wear plates or facings i9 of suitablematerial, which plates constitute a 'wall of each guide for a portion ofits length and are pressed resiliently toward the opposite wall by meansof springs 50 on posts 51. The resistance offered by these plates isnotsufficient to prevent the travel of the grippers when engaged withsuiiicient power, but they act on'the other hand as friction brakes thatcause the grippers to halt immediately as soon as releasedat this pointfrom their driving mechanism.

ln the operation of the device it will be borne in mind, as beforestated, that in the present embodiment there are employed threegrippers, two traveling actuators 4111 on the carrier 32 and two clutchelements 45 on the latter. Referring to F ig. 6, when one of thegrippers reaches the delivery end of the bed, its path of travelcontinues beyond that of the carrier 32 which moves coincidentlytherewith most of the time and hence the flange or clutch element l5leaves the shoulder i6 as it passes onto the sprocket 35 and the carrier32 and the conveyer lo, for the grippers, at each side ofthe machine aredisconnected for a space so that while the carrier continuesA theconveyer stops. At this point one of the other grippers is on the backtrip beneath the bed of the machine, as indicated at 14: in Fig.V 1,while the third oneis in a position adjacent to` the supply table 13, asshownfat 14: in F ig. 2. .lust at this point the last mentioned aw hascome beneath the friction brakes i8- and is thus instantly haltedwithout any lost motion, the jaws being open. There ensues a shortperiod of rest on thepart of the conveyer 15 and all of the gripperswhich gives the operator an opportunity to insert the edge of a sheetfrom the table 13 between the jaws of the last mentioned gripper. Aboutthe time this is accomplished one of the actuating pins 44 on thecontinuously moving carrier 32, strikes the arm 28 of the movable jaw,as shown in Figs. l1 and 12, and closes the latter upon the sheet. Thebrake device 4S offers sufficient resistance to hold the gripperIagainst the engagement of this actuating pin 44 until it has performedits function of closing the jaws. Immediately thereafter the clutchmember 45 follows along and engages the shoulder 46 of the gripper sothat it is carried beneath the printing cylinders and beyond to thedelivery mechanism. When this particular gripper reaches the positionshown in Fig. 6, the stationary actuating projection 47 on the frameengages the arm 29 on the shaft 21 of the movable jaw and rotates theshaft in the opposite direction, opening the jaw and releasing thesheet. The clutch member 45 at about the same time travels onto theadjacent sprocket of the carrier leaving the gripper and halting allthree grippers and their conveyer for another space, the

gripper which was beneath the bed, as appearing in Fig.` 1, being then1n a position adjacent to the supply table 13 and so the cycle ofoperation continues.

At the time the gripper is opened to release the sheet, as in Fig. G,the latter has already advanced upon the rollers 13 of the deliverymechanism, which, in the present embodiment, are provided with sprockets52 at their ends that coperate with the endless chain carrier 32 to becontinuously driven thereby so that the sheet is pushed off the end ofthe machine and there taken care of in any desired manner.

Suitable guides 53 are preferably provided beneath the bed of themachine to support the slack stretch of the flexible conveyer belt 15and the grippers carried thereby and the lower stretch of the chaincarrier 32 may also be supported by channel pulleys 54 or equivalentdevices.

Of course, I do not limit myself to the use of any particular number ofgrippers on the Iconveyer as a skilled mechanic could arrange for theemployment of a greater or less number, and I also contemplate that themechanism can be utilized for other purposes than to feed a printingpress.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a traveling gripperhavingopen and closed positions, of a continuously moving, flexible,endless carrier traveling in parallelism to and in the same directionwith the gripper, and an actuator thereon for operating the gripper toone of said positions at predetermined intervals.

2. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a traveling grippermovable in one direction in a fixed path, of a continuously moving,flexible, endless carrier arranged to parallel the path of movement ofthe gripper and a clutch member thereon for intermittently interlocking`with and driving the gripper.

3. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a traveling grippermovable in a fixed path and having open and closed positions, of acontinuously moving endless carrier, an actuator thereon for operatingthe gripper to one of said positions and a clutch member on the carrierfollowing in rear of the actuator and adapted to move the gripper in itspath.

4. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a traveling grippermovable in a fixed path and having open and closed positions, of acontinuously moving endless carrier, a clutch member thereon movableinto and out of interlocking engagement with the gripper to move thelatter intermittently with the carrier and an actuator on the carrierarranged to operate the gripper to one of said positions while thelatter is at rest.

5. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with an endless conveyerand a gripper thereon having open and closed positions, of acontinuously moving endless carrier, a clutch member thereon adapted toimpart movement to the conveyer and an actuator on the carrier foroperating the gripper to one of its positions.

G. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a frame, an endlessconveyer and a gripper on the latter having open and closed positions,of a continuously moving endless carrier, a clutch member thereonadapted to intermittently operate the conveyer, an actuator on thecarrier for operating the gripper to closed position when the conveyeris at rest and an actuator on the frame for opening the gripper whilethe conveyer is in motion.

7. In a sheet feedingdevice, the combination with a frame, a printingcouple, a feed board at one side of the latter anda delivery mechanismat the other, of a conveyer, a gripper thereon movable in an endlesspath from the feed table, through the couple to the delivery mechanismand back again, said gripper having open and closed positions, acontinuously moving endless carrier, a clutch member thereon adapted tointermittently operate the conveyer and to halt the gripper adjacent tothe feed board, an actuator on the carrier for operating `the gripper toclosed position when the latter is at rest and an actuator on the framefor opening the gripper adjacent to the delivery mechanism after passingthe printing couple.

8. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a frame, a bed, anendless conveyer, and a plurality of grippers carried thereby, eachmovable to lopen and closed positions, said grippers being adapted totravel in a path above and below the bed, of

an endless carrier, a clutch member thereon movable in a path coincidentWith that of the conveyer for a portion only of the travel of thelatter, andadapted to interlock with the grippers one at a time to causethe latter and the conveyer to move intermittently, the grippers beingso arranged that as one leaves the path of the carrier and the clutchmember another is arrested at one end of the bed, a delivery mechanismat the other end of the latter, an actuator on the frame adjacent to thedelivery mechanism for operating one gripper to open position as itleaves the path of the clutch member, and an actuator on the carrier forclosing the other gripper duringits interval of rest.

9. 1n a sheet feeding device, the combination With an endless conveyerVand tivo grippers thereon, movable in an endless path and operable toopen and closed positions, of an endless carrier, a clutch elementthereon movable in an endless path coincident with that of the grippersfor a portion only of the travel of the latter, and adapted to engagethe grippers to impart intermittent movement to the carrier, astationary actuator for opening a gripper as it leaves the path of itsclutch member and an actuator on the carrier for closing the othergripper as it stands at rest.

10. n a sheet feeding device, the combination with a bed, a conveyer fortransporting sheets along the bed and delivery rolls at one end of thelatter, of an endless chain provided with a clutch member for impartingintermittent movement to the conveyer and sprockets on the deliveryrolls coperating with the chain.

11. 1n a sheet feeding device, the combination With a conveyer, of meansfor driving the same intermittently in the same direction and a brakedevice for arresting the conveyer when disconnected from the drivingmeans, said brake device being adapted to be overcome by the drivingmeans.

12. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a bed having a guideand a conveyer provided with members coperating with the guide, of meansfor driving therconveyer intermittently in the same direction and afriction brake device on the guide for halting` the conveyer .whendisconnected from the driving means, said brake device being adapted tobe overcome by the driving means.

13. In a sheet feeding device, the combination With a bed having aguideway and a conveyer provided With projections cooperating With theguideway, of means for driving the conveyer intermittently in the samedirection and a friction brake device for halting the conveyer whendisconnected from the driving means comprising a yielding spring-pressedplate arranged to restrict the guideway against the passage of theprojection, said brake device being adapted to be overcome by thedriving means. Y

14. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with an endless conveyerfor the sheets provided With Vgrippers, of a continuously moving endlesscarrier supporting Wheels therefor, one of which is yarranged Within theloop ofthe conveyer so that the latter travels beyond the carrier aftertraveling for a distance therewith, and a clutch member on the carrierVinterlocking with the conveyer to drive the latter intermittently, saidmember being `arranged to disconnect itself from the conveyer when `itreaches its said supporting Wheel.

15. ln a sheet feeding device, the combination with an endless conveyerprovided with grippers having-open andrclosed positions and supportingWheels for the conveyer, of a continuously moving endless carrier,supporting vvheels therefor, Vone of which is arranged Within the loopof the conveyer so that the latter travels beyond the carrier aftertraveling for a distance coincidently therewith, a clutch member on thecarrier interlocking with the conveyer to drive the latterintermittently, said member being arranged to disconnect itself from theconveyer when it reachesits said supporting Wheel and a stationaryactuator arranged to coperate with the grippers on the conveyer afterthe latter moves beyond the carrier to operate the same to one of saidpositions.

16. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a traveling conveyerhaving intermittent movement in one direction, of a gripper thereforcomprising a fixed jaw and an oscillating javv having open and closedpositions, an actuator movable in the saine direction as the conveyeradapted to engage Vand oscillate the javv in one direction and astationary actuator for oscillating it in the other.

17. In a sheet feeding device, the combination With a bed and a grippercomprising a stationary and a movable javv extending across the bed, ofan operating arm'for moving the movable jaw to one of said positions, atravelingrcarrier and a pair of abutments on the carrier, one adapted tocooperate'ivith the said arm to actuate the movable jav7 and the lotherto coperate with the xed j avv to move the gripper along the bed.

18. In a sheet nation with a traveling gripper having open and closedpositions and a member thereon for operating the same, of means fordriving the gripper intermittently, a bralre device for halting thelatter When disconnected from its driving means and a travelfeedingdevice, the combiing actuator' coperating With the operating member ofthe gripper While the latter is held by the brake device. a

19. In a sheet feeding device, the combination with a traveling gripper'having open and closed positions and a member thereon for operating thesame, of a continuously moving endless carrier, a friction brakearranged in the path of the gripper', an actuator on the carriercoperating with the operating member of the gripper to operate thelatter to one of said positions While the gripper is held by thefriction brake and a clutch member on the carrier following after theactuator and subsequently coperating with the gripper to carry it onagainst the resistance of the friction brake.

HENRY W. MORGAN. Witnesses:

RUSSELL B. GRIFFITH, LUCY A. VAN COURT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

